BFM your kiddos are so darn cute...what a pair of peepers that boy has, ooh B has compatition big time with that cutie-patutie on the loose. good thing he has some sisters to rein him in and beat the girls off with a stick!

Okay so has anyone elses babe discovered shreaking yet? B has been making this godawful sound lately when he is ticked off or tired. He has been using his 'words' too saying "neehaa" when he's tired...wonder what O's friend thinks of that *snark*! But the screaming is irratating. I told dh tonight while leaving the store of the Anti-Christ (wal mart) with a screaching baby "Welcome to parenthood!" he chuckled nervously. Hopefull the babe will out grown it befoer a band of Gypsies come by and offer to buy him cause if its a good price...well lets just say the boy could be good at fortune telling.

We had planned on leaving around DS's bedtime and her early-evening nap time, so that they would both just lsepe in the car the whole trip (about 6-1/2 hours). Welllllll, DD SCREAMED in the car. I mean, screamed. It was the worst 45 minutes of my life thus far. She's never been THIS upset in the car. She was fine as we got onto the highway, got off a couple minutes later to grab some Wendy's for me and DH, : andthen got back on. About a minute later she started crying...about 2 minutes later we stopped at a rest stop because I thought she might have pooped, it kind of sounded like her "hey, I'm sittign in poop over here!" cry...but no poop. So, I nursed her, she was calm and smiley, and I put her back in her seat. 2 minutes on the highway and she's crying again....I had a flashlight so I thought maybe she was scared of the dark...that calmed her down for about 2 minutes, and she started SCREAMING this time. And I mean that high-pitched, 'mommy where are you' type of scream. So, DH turned around at the next exit, then we had a 25-minute drive home, with her screaming the whole way...that gasping, choking scream. It's burned into my memory. How the can people make their babies cry it out on purpose? : I practically vaulted over the top of the car once we were in the driveway, to get her into my arms....took her about 20 minutes to calm down, and then she slept fine the rest of the night cuddled right next to me. Woke at 5am, changed her diaper and she smiled and cooed at me, nursed and is back asleep now.

I'm bummed about not seeing my family (good news is my aunt's prognosis right now is OK, so hopefully we've got some time to get them together), but Oh.My.God. How horrible.

Beyond that, I was about ready to strangle my DH. He seems to think that I'm completely irrational when it comes to my parents. His family is NOT really close. My family is...so sometimes I do things that to him seem "inconvenient" to see them....it's always been a point of contention in our marriage. So last night, when he said he was pulling off and turning around, I said, "Good, let's get her home as fast as we can"....I seriously felt like I was going to vomit with how upset she was...a couple minutes later I reached over to hold his arm, and he mumbled something about "priorities"...and I said, "Don't even go there - how was I supposed to know she'd do this? I don't want this any more than you do, we just need to get her home." So...about 5 min later, it looked like she was going to scream herself to sleep (:Puke) and I said "oh man, it looks like she's goign to fall asleep.". He had the nerve to say, "well, I'm not turning around". O.M.G. you. What kind of a monster does he think I am? I couldn't even look at thim. I said, "how DARE you", and he started to say something, and I said, "Don't talk." I couldn't even look at him the rest of the trip or night...and I think he knew he crossed a line. First time I've ever gone to bed mad at him. Guess who's having a discussion today? : Yeah - I'm gonna have my baby scream herself to sleep, wake up in the car and scream some more until she falls asleep again, and then wake up screaming again, for the next 6-1/2 hours. Yeah. OK. He can't seem to grasp the concept that I can be disappointed about not seeing my family, but also NOT ACTUALLY GO. Good God. Or maybe because I called my mom from the car to let her know we weren't coming and I apologized and said I wished we could see them, maybe he took that as me being "resentful" of DD? Who knows, but I REALLY have to talk to him - that was just ridiculous.

Ahhhh, I feel much better now typing it out. DD is happy again thank GOD, and I'll iron this out with DH later today.

'Ello, all. Dan is still waiting around in the hospital. He's bored out of his gourd, but I brought him his Alton Brown cookbook to read and now he'll be entertained. They have him on a liquid diet, though, so reading about grilling, roasting and searing is... well, rather tortuous.

Poor guy. Please keep us posted on how he's doing!

Quote:

Originally Posted by katiejon1

Well, my sister is in the hospital.

Evie's going to her first hockey game tonight. There's

I'm contimplating a mei tai. The one time I tried one on with her in it, she fussed, but I don't know if it was naptime/hunger/tired/ect. I don't want to waste my money if she's not going to like it. Any thoughts?

to your sister, hope you had a good time at the game, and the only thing I use my pouch (like a sling) for now is a hip carry, cause she doesn't like it any other way. In fact, I can't carry her on my front for long anymore in the wrap either,, she's just too big (and I'm too short)...so I've GOT to figure out a good back carry (I've gotten ehr up there a few times, but it feels really precarious and I inevitably pinch something and she gets unhappy quickly)...there was a carrier kind of like an ergo I saw in one of the ads here that starte with a W that I was liking, but I can't remember the name of it...bother.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by BundleFishMama

I said I make time for my primping every day; I didn't say it's a peaceful, tranquil experience!

So anyway, it's not exactly the epitome of relaxation, but the end result is the same!

OK - off to order Chinese food, I'm a Chinese take-out addict

Your primping description makes me : See, that would be so UN-relaxing for me, it would make me worse...which is probably why I don't have a primping routine right now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahlynn83

Well, we got moved into our new condo over the weekend. I never knew that moving with a baby would be this hard, I usually would have everything unpacked by now and organized...not going to happen. It is so nice to actually own my own home finally.

We are offically six months as of yesturday..he had our checkup and he weights 18.12 lbs and is 27 in long.

COngrats on the new place, and go go Alex!! : )

Quote:

Originally Posted by mommy2girlies

Now I've got that slim jim commercial in my head!! Do you remember the ones with Macho Man Randy Savage?

How do you molest a zipper?

YES! I remember those commercials!

And..um, yeah, I don't even want to think about how you would molest a zipper

Quote:

Originally Posted by BundleFishMama

OK, finally had a chance to upload photos, so now you can all gaze upon the 3 most adorable kids in the universe!

SOOOOOO CUTE! What a great-looking family! I LOVE that piano with the mic attached!

Quote:

Originally Posted by BundleFishMama

: Sorry, but I have TWO very handsome guys waiting for me in my bed, so I'd have to turn you down! (And guess what, they like me between them...ooooo yeah baby....and they both love my breasts! Oh man, I really need to get to bed....)

:

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlbertaJes

I'm a little : but I won't get into that right now.

I am sooo tired. We've been crazy busy since we got here, and it's wearing me down a bit. And Katie has been getting passed around during the day (because she loves people), so she wants her "Mommy time" at night, so I get to sleep with a little velcro baby who wakes up 2 minutes after I am in bed without her. :

for whatever your : is, I decided to get into mine above . Good luck with velcro baby!

Quote:

Originally Posted by rikiamber

I told dh tonight while leaving the store of the Anti-Christ (wal mart) with a screaching baby "Welcome to parenthood!" he chuckled nervously.

Wait until you're carrying a kicking, screaming toddler under one arm and have a baby strapped to you on the front. To quote Angie quoting me , good times, good times.

For me the conference is my vacation $. Since we cannot fly until she is at least 2, we are grounded and we dont have much to do on the house. So I can not worry about the cost of the conference and its vendors!! Also a major plus is its 20 minutes from my house.

"The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly out distances us."

BFM your kiddos are so darn cute...what a pair of peepers that boy has, ooh B has compatition big time with that cutie-patutie on the loose. good thing he has some sisters to rein him in and beat the girls off with a stick!

Okay so has anyone elses babe discovered shreaking yet? B has been making this godawful sound lately when he is ticked off or tired. He has been using his 'words' too saying "neehaa" when he's tired...wonder what O's friend thinks of that *snark*! But the screaming is irratating. I told dh tonight while leaving the store of the Anti-Christ (wal mart) with a screaching baby "Welcome to parenthood!" he chuckled nervously. Hopefull the babe will out grown it befoer a band of Gypsies come by and offer to buy him cause if its a good price...well lets just say the boy could be good at fortune telling.

Cant believe another year has gone by! it went so fast :

Alex has discovered this as well, but he only does it when he is mad. Last night he went out to eat at Rubby Tuesdays. We had him in the high chair and he was fine, then our food came out and he was totally mad. He was sreaming and hollaring, but not crying, so I gave him some for my bread and mashed potatoes and it was fine, that was before he about pulled a hot plate of food on himself.

Heather I don't understand how people can CIO either. I feel the same way about wanting to rip my skin off, even if it's just 2 minutes in the car. Breaks my heart. DD was crying the other night when I was getting ready for bed, and I knew that DH was holding her & trying to comfort her and i still couldn't handle it.

And the velcro baby is totally dealable as long as I realize that's why she's being a velcro baby. I do way better with an explanation of behaviour. Somehow, having a reason makes it less stressful for me. Velcro baby and I slept very, very well last night all snuggled up. Seriously, she sleeps so tight against me that she has to crank her head back, not sure if that's so she can look at me or so she can breathe. And if I try to scoot her an inch away, she squiggles back against me.

My : is just because, again, I don't deal well with the unknown, and that seems to be what I get right now. It'll clear up sooner or later. Just the joy of holidays.

For me the conference is my vacation $. Since we cannot fly until she is at least 2, we are grounded and we dont have much to do on the house. So I can not worry about the cost of the conference and its vendors!! Also a major plus is its 20 minutes from my house.

Why can't you fly 'til she is two? Just curious. And Granola Ambassador...that's cute. :

Why can't you fly 'til she is two? Just curious. And Granola Ambassador...that's cute. :

Since Maggie has the preemie status for at least 24 mos, you dont want to fly. One, the germs she could get and another- she went home on O2 and her lungs may be too delicate or not but we dont want to find out. The air on board may make it too difficult for her to breath. So we are land grounded for a while.

As far as Granola Ambassador= that was a title given to me by mdc. I am kind of an asst mod in sahm and nicu areas. Or a hall monitor like!

Also- who will start the new year new thread???

"The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly out distances us."

so one of my good friends from school is pregnant and due in April. i haven't talked to her much lately. we try to catch up but its hard.. she's into partying going out etc.. i like to stay home do things with my family etc... anyways.. she's asked me a couple questions regarding birth and afterwards, breastfeeding, etc.. i am thinking of giving her the thinking womans guide to a better birth, the Ina mays guide to childbirth... maybe also the baby book and the birth book by dr. sears... what would u lovely ladies do? hehe.. i just don't wanna seem too idk the word....

so one of my good friends from school is pregnant and due in April. i haven't talked to her much lately. we try to catch up but its hard.. she's into partying going out etc.. i like to stay home do things with my family etc... anyways.. she's asked me a couple questions regarding birth and afterwards, breastfeeding, etc.. i am thinking of giving her the thinking womans guide to a better birth, the Ina mays guide to childbirth... maybe also the baby book and the birth book by dr. sears... what would u lovely ladies do? hehe.. i just don't wanna seem too idk the word....

Well, dont worry- she will be staying home a lot and soon!

I like all your suggestions but add- The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. Also just in case- the Fussy baby book by Sears.

"The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly out distances us."

I've begun to think that "vacations" are not truly possible with small children..... and on your potty and pop tart issues...

Yeah, I've noticed...I am saving myself some trauma though and doing pull-ups for a while~though I didn't want to. Figure until the boy starts to CARE that he is sitting in poop, why torture myself with the underwear... *sigh*. Feeling much better after that revelation though....

Ange. Mama to boys. Yup. All Boys. All Intact. A bunch of other NFL, crunchy credentials too.

Dan says "Hi, Moms." He was discharged yesterday... doing great, although he says he feels like "fruit loops" because of his medicine. He has to take daily calcium blockers to stay ahead of the migraine crap. Blearrrrgh. Poor guy.

His parents got here yesterday. They drove our "new" car to us -- a '98 Pathfinder that is in excellent condition and has some sweet extras (hello, Bose soundsystem!)

Anyway, just wanted to give the quick update. I'm going to see if Neves wants another snack right now. It's been tough to get her to commit to eating today.

Megan. Student Physical Therapist. Married & Mom to Geneva (6/30/06). Recent transplant to the rainy side of the Cascades.

mikey has begun saying "mama" only it's the strung out "mamamamamamama" version and has nothing to do with me...he uses it indiscriminately. but everytime he does it (about every 15 minutes) all three of my girls start shouting "he's saying MAMA! he's saying MAMA! did you hear that?!?!??!" LOL

he has also decided that in addition to nursing 4-8x/night he will now get mad like this > and scream inconsolably if i don't "whip it out" fast enough. this means he will not nurse and go back to sleep (as per usual which makes the 4-8x/night of waking tolerable) and instead will throw a baby version of the temper tantrum just doing that mad cry until i sing enough "yes, jesus loves me" or "old mcdonald" to soothe his savage soul and he calms down enough to nurse back to sleep...how does it go again? ah yes

GOOD TIMES

bleh.

i've been blessed with three babes who were sleeping through the night by this point and so even though he's #4 i'm just not being a good sport about this and am one big fat grump. ugh. isn't it amazing how such a cute little teeny tiny person can really pi$$ you off sometimes? LOL good thing he's cute...

sarah - one of the things i can remember from my last 5 pages of reading is that i was totally : about you telling us about your nipple piercing in one breath and asking if you were a "prude" for thinking the word octopussy should be censored...LOL...not a prude, but enigma might describe it

glad Dan is ok.

on carriers, i really reach for my homemade denim pouch the most b/c it's so poppable, but i do still like/use my mei tai (by maya) as does dh and my dd1 and i have tried both a kozy and babyhawk and have to concur that they rock. i've also been using my ergo, it's bar none the most comfortable back carry i've ever experienced...though i never did get the hang of doing a back wrap...

primping? make-up? eye brow arches? what are these strange things you speak of?

hey...you don't win friends with salad. seriously i would never have more than a two word conversation with my dh if it were not for his ability to slip a simpsons reference into literally every other conversation...at least.

WOHM married to SAHD, living the dream w/our: 3 girls (14,12,10) and 3 boys (7,5,3) and tie-breaker due Jan 2014

You can come visit anytime. I won't be venturing out for a while, not until I work out the logistics of a crawling baby and a constantly nursing baby. I'm thinking I'll be house-ridden for at least a month.

You are a better woman then I. I can hardly do it with my 3 year old and the 20+ lb babe.... and um, it's been more than a month. (none of the smilies work on the in-laws computer... how sad...)

Quote:

Originally Posted by rikiamber

Okay so has anyone elses babe discovered shreaking yet?

We've got a shreaker here. Driving me crazy....And it's for everything. Not just if he is upset or anything but everything. He just likes to hear his voice I guess. So I just join along and shreak with him. :

Quote:

Originally Posted by The4OfUs

Soooooo, guess who's not going to Pittsburgh? Us.

Ahhhh, I feel much better now typing it out. DD is happy again thank GOD, and I'll iron this out with DH later today.

Seriously. How do people do CIO? I wanted to rip my skin off :

Hope the talk with dh goes well... Yeah, hate that not quite on the same page thing... And um, J did the I'm starving cry just 7 or 8 minutes from the in-laws house. Calmed down after about 45 seconds and I still went crazy. Dh pulled up to the house and was trying to ask me where he should park and I said "I don't care. Just stop the car so I can get my kid out! : He did

Quote:

Originally Posted by mamamilkbar

so one of my good friends from school is pregnant and due in April. i haven't talked to her much lately. we try to catch up but its hard.. she's into partying going out etc.. i like to stay home do things with my family etc... anyways.. she's asked me a couple questions regarding birth and afterwards, breastfeeding, etc.. i am thinking of giving her the thinking womans guide to a better birth, the Ina mays guide to childbirth... maybe also the baby book and the birth book by dr. sears... what would u lovely ladies do? hehe.. i just don't wanna seem too idk the word....

Do you guys share similar beliefs? Cause me and my hs friends don't and um, she asked me about books, I gave her some suggestions, and she promptly decided to take all her doctor said at face value along with her epidural. Didn't read anything. Then gave me a lovely speech about how perfect her ob is and if her ob decided she should have a c-section she would gladly do it and blah blah blah. BUT those are some great books... Liked Amy's additions to. I liked Karen Pryor's for Working Mother's...I liked the Bradley Books as well...

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcimom

he has also decided that in addition to nursing 4-8x/night he will now get mad like this > and scream inconsolably if i don't "whip it out" fast enough. this means he will not nurse and go back to sleep (as per usual which makes the 4-8x/night of waking tolerable) and instead will throw a baby version of the temper tantrum just doing that mad cry until i sing enough "yes, jesus loves me" or "old mcdonald" to soothe his savage soul and he calms down enough to nurse back to sleep...how does it go again? ah yes

GOOD TIMES

bleh.

i've been blessed with three babes who were sleeping through the night by this point and so even though he's #4 i'm just not being a good sport about this and am one big fat grump. ugh. isn't it amazing how such a cute little teeny tiny person can really pi$$ you off sometimes? LOL good thing he's cute...

hey...you don't win friends with salad. seriously i would never have more than a two word conversation with my dh if it were not for his ability to slip a simpsons reference into literally every other conversation...at least.

I promise twins... J is UP ALL NIGHT NURSING. I can't even tell you if its 4 or 8 times or more cause I lose count. And yes, screech if you don't whip it out fast enough. He likes it best when we are at home and I am sans bra and can just lift the shirt out of the way. Even when he is NURSING ALL DAY AND EATING SOLIDS 3 times during the day as well. WTH????Where is it all going????

I am done with friends. Too bad none of you ladies live closer cause I have reached my limit with the crazy ppl in my life. I promise, how can someone get mad at you for not sending them a text message on Christmas to say Merry Christmas when they keep telling you they CONVERTED TO JUDIASM??? But she still wants to celebrate Xmas with us.... I'm just confused.... :

Ange. Mama to boys. Yup. All Boys. All Intact. A bunch of other NFL, crunchy credentials too.

hey...you don't win friends with salad. seriously i would never have more than a two word conversation with my dh if it were not for his ability to slip a simpsons reference into literally every other conversation...at least.

Megan, I'm so sorry for all this stress and I hope Dan feels better soon.

ummm.....what else?

I never wear make-up or dress nice. I have a pretty high up job in insurance but I never have to be "seen" and I deal with truckers so it's different clients. I was always a non-girly-girl growing up. my 2 older sisters are girly-girls but I never wanted anything to do with it. I always liked trucks and transformers.

Today was my family's xmas and it went really well. We got a Moby and Marlow LOVES it. People IRL told me that she wouldn't do well with it because of her size but it's the only carrier that she likes so far. And DH really likes the warm brown color.

DH got a Shel Silverstein CD and a lullaby renditions of tool cd (not my thing but he likes it). He also got a rainbow pack of sharpies so he is quite pleased.

We don't exchange gifts with each other so it was just stuff from my family.

We made a slide show of Marlow for my family. I have to see if I can figure out how to post it. But it's 8 minutes long.

My sister keeps telling me that her baby refuses to nurse because she likes to look around while nursing so she keeps popping on and off so my sis has decided to stop nursing her. She's just 3 months and is giving all sort of cues that would have me putting her breast if I could.
I remember when Marlow would do that and I just took her to a dark, quiet room to cut down on the distractions. I SO wish Marlow would nurse. I hope this strike ends soon.

OH! Marlow pulled herself up to a standing position from sitting down today! She can't sit up from laying down or crawl but if she's already sitting and grabs on to furniture she can stand. It seems really backwards to me.

That is DD1 and my bonding. We go and eat a chop salad. She always has loved them. When I was carrying her, I ate them non stop and she starting eating it at age 15 mos!! One time I threatened not to get her one if she didnt stop doing whatever she was doing. My friend said I wish I can punish my kids by taking away salad!

"The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly out distances us."

Amy - do you have a copy of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding that I could borrow? Any reading I can do on the subject will be helpful, I think, given my ultra-rocky first attempt.

Lindsey - Sam can't pull herself up yet, but she's happiest when she's standing and holding on to furniture. She's not even sitting unassisted yet!! And she's starting to rock back and almost get up on all 4s. : I am SO not ready.

What else? Um, LeighAnne, sorry about the demanding little man you've got there! That's rough. And yes, enigma may be accurate. Seriously though, my oldest can read. I don't need her walking through the living room going, "mommy? What's an Octopussy?" I can just see that conversation. Oy.

Megan - Yay for "new" cars!! The Pathfinder sounds wonderful. And I hope Dan is on the road to recovery. We're all pulling for him!

Ange - I know what you mean about being done with friends. It's so hard to find even remotely like-minded mamas around here. The mainstream group I belong to is all supportive of each other when they decide to wean super early (like 6 months) because they want to diet, or because their babies got teeth and it hurts to nurse. One mom just weaned her 9 month old because she was just tired of nursing, and since her daughter "likes" the formula, her life is so much easier now. She can just pop a bottle in her mouth and walk away. Every playgroup, the babies are all stuck in bouncy chairs or left in their buckets. It makes me sad that I'm the only one who seems to want to cuddle a baby who's older than about 5 months. There is one mama, who when asked how long she'd nurse said, "at least a year." She was also asking about the midwives at the OB practice I go to so that she could see them when she has her next baby. She may be more crispy than she thinks.

My sis flew in from Nashville last night, and I went to pick her up from BWI. This morning I took her up to my parent's house for the day, and when we got there, we walked in to the living room and our little brother came strolling out of his room to greet us. He goes to school in Indiana, and couldn't get home from Christmas because of work. He planned it out with my mom, and when he got off work at 2:30 this morning, he drove straight through (10 hours!!) so that he could get here to see us. We all cried when we saw him, including my dad, who was kept in the dark about his arrival. It's so rare that all three of us are in my parent's house at the same time, since my sis lives 700 miles away, and Stuart is in IN, so my dad spent the entire dinner (we had Christmas dinner tonight...YUM!) just staring back and forth between the three of us and grinning like a goofball. It was so wonderful to be with both my siblings again. I miss them so much.

(but don't worry, most of their other presents were more natural-family-living-oriented! )

Adorable! You've got such a nice-looking familiy. When did you go to Natural Bridge? It's pretty cool. I've been there a long time ago though. There's another one in VA called Natural Tunnel that's even more impressive. It's a HUGE tunnel through a mountain that is so big a railroad laid a track through it. It's pretty close to where I grew up, so I can remember walking through the tunnel and having to run over to the side b/c a train was coming. It's really big though, so we were far enough away from the train. You can't walk through it anymore though. The railroad company now has it off limits. It's really beautiful. Here's a picture. http://www.dcr.state.va.us/parks/pictures/ntnlfoto.htm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Megs_BK

Dan says "Hi, Moms." He was discharged yesterday... doing great, although he says he feels like "fruit loops" because of his medicine. He has to take daily calcium blockers to stay ahead of the migraine crap. Blearrrrgh. Poor guy.

His parents got here yesterday. They drove our "new" car to us -- a '98 Pathfinder that is in excellent condition and has some sweet extras (hello, Bose soundsystem!)

.

Yay! Glad Dan is home! The car sounds great!

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcimom

mikey has begun saying "mama" only it's the strung out "mamamamamamama" version and has nothing to do with me...he uses it indiscriminately. but everytime he does it (about every 15 minutes) all three of my girls start shouting "he's saying MAMA! he's saying MAMA! did you hear that?!?!??!" LOL

he has also decided that in addition to nursing 4-8x/night he will now get mad like this > and scream inconsolably if i don't "whip it out" fast enough. this means he will not nurse and go back to sleep (as per usual which makes the 4-8x/night of waking tolerable) and instead will throw a baby version of the temper tantrum just doing that mad cry until i sing enough "yes, jesus loves me" or "old mcdonald" to soothe his savage soul and he calms down enough to nurse back to sleep...how does it go again? ah yes

GOOD TIMES

bleh.

i've been blessed with three babes who were sleeping through the night by this point and so even though he's #4 i'm just not being a good sport about this and am one big fat grump. ugh. isn't it amazing how such a cute little teeny tiny person can really pi$$ you off sometimes? LOL good thing he's cute...

on carriers, i really reach for my homemade denim pouch the most b/c it's so poppable, but i do still like/use my mei tai (by maya) as does dh and my dd1 and i have tried both a kozy and babyhawk and have to concur that they rock. i've also been using my ergo, it's bar none the most comfortable back carry i've ever experienced...though i never did get the hang of doing a back wrap...

How cute! I can't wait until Evie starts doing mamamamama. She's thrown out a few dadada, but not many.

I feel for you on the sleep thing. Caleb was a better sleeper too.

Evie throws the exact same hissy fit if she doesn't get what she wants when she thinks it should be there...And that is usually about 10 seconds before she knew she wanted it. heh I second your GOOD TIMES :

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paddington

\
I gave her some suggestions, and she promptly decided to take all her doctor said at face value along with her epidural. Didn't read anything. Then gave me a lovely speech about how perfect her ob is and if her ob decided she should have a c-section she would gladly do it and blah blah blah. BUT those are some great books... Liked Amy's additions to. I liked Karen Pryor's for Working Mother's...I liked the Bradley Books as well...

I sent my sister a list of books to read. Hopefully she'll at least crack 1 open. I'm the reader in the family. I was talking to my dh the other day and was musing on how on earth the 2 of us were raised the same way can be so vastly different from each other. I had a m/w, wanted a homebirth, she thinks that the ob is marvelous and has already decided she wants an epidural. Her view on a C-section? fine! She scares me. I really hope that there is some way I can sway her somewhat. It makes me sad that she could be so uninformed and be pressured into something that she doesn't need. She told me the other day that she wants to just pump and not bf. I really think I'll be able to help her with that though. Since the baby is due in July, I'll be able to go down and help with that. Hopefully if she gets off to a good start, she'll be able to keep it up. Surely she'll want to bf and not pump, right? Isn't that what most people want to do? :

She's out of the hospital. I don't think they kept her very long. I guess they just gave her fluids and some zofran. She's feeling much better.

Thanks for all the advice about the mei tais. I really think I'm going to get one. I know it's my "fun" money, but I'm worried abou the next pay period. As teachers, both dh and I got paid for the month of Jan on the 15th, so I won't get paid again until Jan. 15. He doesn't get paid until Jan. 31, so I want to make sure that the Christmas expenditures didn't get by me.

Today was hard. Today was good though. We went to see the part of my family I haven't seen in at least 5 years. My DH met 3 of them at our wedding, but no one else could come. It was great to see them, I've missed them.

We also went to the cemetery where my Grandma is buried. She died when I was 13. And my Great-Aunt who died last spring. That was hard. I have been to Grandma's grave a number of times since she died, and today was the hardest one. I just kept thinking that I shouldn't have to bring my family to a cemetary to "meet" her. She should have been able to meet them in person. She would have been 64 this coming February. I miss her a lot.

On a happier note, Katie reacted to my Great-Uncle the same way she does to my dad's dad. With sheer glee. He is a wonderful man.

My Mom & I also went to Joann's Fabrics and I bought some more fleece to make a couple more pouches. I made one out of some fleece I had around the house a couple weeks ago, and I love it but it's about 3 inches too small, I think. I found some gorgeous embroidered fleece, it's chocolate brown fleece with embroidery that variegates from periwinkle to teal to gold to silver to periwinkle again. It's so pretty, I'll have to take a picture. So I made a new pouch out of that that should be 3 inches bigger, but it doesn't stretch as much. I also got some fleece in a nice soft blue.

Oh and to everyone who hasn't yet received a card from me, I didn't get enough pictures printed so i haven't been able to send all of them yet. I'll get them out a day or two after we get back home.

So glad he's feeling better - well, froot loopiness aside (you were right the first time, it is spelled froot - cause Lord knows there's no real fruit in those babies..and NO, I was NOT addicted to them in college, and I did NOT take a plastic toucan Sam from the dining hall to have in my dorm room. : ). I hope he contines to feel better. And on the car!

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcimom

but everytime he does it (about every 15 minutes) all three of my girls start shouting "he's saying MAMA! he's saying MAMA! did you hear that?!?!??!" LOL

he has also decided that in addition to nursing 4-8x/night he will now get mad like this > and scream inconsolably if i don't "whip it out" fast enough.

These made me chuckle...I know it's not really funny when you're in the midst of it, but thinking of a baby doing this just makes me giggle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcimom

isn't it amazing how such a cute little teeny tiny person can really pi$$ you off sometimes? LOL good thing he's cute...

Amen to that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcimom

seriously i would never have more than a two word conversation with my dh if it were not for his ability to slip a simpsons reference into literally every other conversation...at least.

Let me give a Burns-like Exxxxxxxxcellent to that. Us here, too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paddington

Hope the talk with dh goes well...

It did, thanks. I said to him something like, "look, I know you think I go crazy with my family, but you were way out of line to imply that I would want to force our daughter to scream in the car for 6 hours just to see them." He said he was sorry, it was over the top and he was just really strung out from her being so upset. We kissed and made up. :

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marlow's mom

We made a slide show of Marlow for my family. I have to see if I can figure out how to post it. But it's 8 minutes long.

OH! Marlow pulled herself up to a standing position from sitting down today! She can't sit up from laying down or crawl but if she's already sitting and grabs on to furniture she can stand. It seems really backwards to me.

I'd lvoe to see the slide show! and Gooooo Marlow!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sehbub

There is one mama, who when asked how long she'd nurse said, "at least a year." She was also asking about the midwives at the OB practice I go to so that she could see them when she has her next baby. She may be more crispy than she thinks.

Hey! Maybe you two might be able to get together; it's so hard, I know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sehbub

my dad spent the entire dinner (we had Christmas dinner tonight...YUM!) just staring back and forth between the three of us and grinning like a goofball. It was so wonderful to be with both my siblings again.

This made me :Happyt and

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlbertaJes

She should have been able to meet them in person. She would have been 64 this coming February. I miss her a lot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlbertaJes

I found some gorgeous embroidered fleece, it's chocolate brown fleece with embroidery that variegates from periwinkle to teal to gold to silver to periwinkle again. It's so pretty, I'll have to take a picture.

This does sound beautiful - please do take a pic!

So, Kait got up on her hands and knees again...and like Sam, Sarah, she's not sitting unsupported yet either - sounds like it's in the wrong order to me, but what do I know? She clearly is a woman on a mission...

My parents are coming today - they were so disappointed about the weekend that they left my Nana's a day early and will be stopping by here for a while - they also have some "stuff" for us, and my mom hasn't seen Kait since before Thanksgiving (which is a long time for them) so she's dying to get a little snuggle time in.

And how cool is this? I was on my local area tribe forum, and there was a "do you know me?" thread on it where you post your schools and places you've lived, and 2 women from my HS are on the board now!! One of them is actually even in the same area I'm in right now, and pointed me to a local AP mom's group...and the other I was actually in some classes with and went to the same college, we've been PMing, and maybe we'll be able to meet up when I go back to my home town to visit the 'rents next time. What a small world - I'm pretty excited!

So I've been thinking about getting one of these: Baby carriers, or an Ergo, because I just can't get her on my back in the wrap securely and comfortably for more than about 5 min, I think I need some structured support - and the pouch is great on my hip, but I need to sometimes be really hands-free to do stuff around the house, and I'm not gonna be able to wear her on my front much longer when we're shopping and out and about (she's 20 pounds by now on my scale: ) . I thought the video of putting baby on the back looked easy, and I think I like the looks/support of this one better than an ergo - I'm not sure I'm thrilled about the wasit band on the ergo...anyone have any thoughts about this carrier, just from looking at it? Or anyone know anybody with one?

So I've been thinking about getting one of these: Baby carriers, or an Ergo, because I just can't get her on my back in the wrap securely and comfortably for more than about 5 min, I think I need some structured support - and the pouch is great on my hip, but I need to sometimes be really hands-free to do stuff around the house, and I'm not gonna be able to wear her on my front much longer when we're shopping and out and about (she's 20 pounds by now on my scale: ) . I thought the video of putting baby on the back looked easy, and I think I like the looks/support of this one better than an ergo - I'm not sure I'm thrilled about the wasit band on the ergo...anyone have any thoughts about this carrier, just from looking at it? Or anyone know anybody with one?

Have a good one, ladies.

I don't have one of those carriers but I have an Ergo. Marlow hated it until recently and now she just sort of tolerates it. I can wear her in it while I vacuum but the moby seems better to me. The ergo is bulkier than I thought it would be. I could see how it would be great for a toddler so I'm saving it for later. She likes to put her feet on the waistband and stand up too and that's not really good. I also don't like how short the fabric is on her back, it doesn't go up as far as I am comfortable with and she dangles out that way. But I guess I could just adjust the straps better but I'm not sure how.

Sarah- I dont have a copy anymore, I just gave away my like 8th copy My issue is- I have nursed over 3 years so I really dont use the book but I can get you one pretty quickly. We have them for sale at the meetings or I can get a used copy since they are always floating around.
I donated about 10 of my books to a LLL chapter starting up in Tenn. The leader posted a ISO for books to start her chapter library and I sent them to her.

If someone passes you one, hopefully it will be the 7th edition, the latest which is an awesome book and resource.

As far as wanting a csection- have that mama talk to me. The last thing I ever wanted was the recovery, the scar, the epideral which is VERY strong and scary. Also the sterile of the birth. Of course my birth w Maggie was a different situation. But I have had it both ways and I would take a vaginal birth anyday. I dont know how you can recover from that surgery and take care of a baby, mine was not there when I recoevered which sadly helped me.
Also making up bottles of bm (that is if you pump a lot and oftern which is hard w a baby!) or formula for that matter is not easier!! With MAggie's supplemnt dh used to say "and how is this easier??" He loves that in the morning he brings Maggie in to our bed and she just latches on. Or she sleeps w us and can feed when she wants. Maggie is at a point where sometimes she likes sleeping w us and other times wants nothing to do with us. But being able to nurse anytime is so much easier than spending 10 minutes preparing a bottle. OKAY, preaching to the saved here.....

As far as a night time nurser= BTDT. The good news is that night time nursing is getting him ready for life. I know Leann knows this! I remember thinking w my first when will this end??? We were both exhausted and we only had one. But at 4 1/2 she sleeps thru the night and has since she was about 15 mos old. That was my light at the end of the tunnel w Maggie - eventually she will sleep thru.

"The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly out distances us."

Yeah, I don't really understand why someone would choose to pump before even trying to breastfeed. Pumping sucks, big time. We do it because we have to in order to give our babies the best possible, not 'cause it's fun.

My SIL called to tell me that she's throwing me a baby shower in the next few weeks, and asked me where I was registered. So I made up a couple registries, but now I'm wondering what the point was? At least with our wedding registry, and the one I made up for Samantha, we got MAYBE four things off of each of them. Everything else was just stuff people wanted to get us. I did ask my SIL to tell all the invitees not to get us clothes though, so maybe they'll have to buy off our registry? I hope so! This time it's stuff we actually need! (most of it anyway...there are a few things that would just be really handy, like a bathtub toy hammock) We shall see in a few weeks, I guess.

As far as wanting a csection- have that mama talk to me. The last thing I ever wanted was the recovery, the scar, the epideral which is VERY strong and scary. Also the sterile of the birth. Of course my birth w Maggie was a different situation. But I have had it both ways and I would take a vaginal birth anyday. I dont know how you can recover from that surgery and take care of a baby, mine was not there when I recoevered which sadly helped me.
Also making up bottles of bm (that is if you pump a lot and oftern which is hard w a baby!) or formula for that matter is not easier!! With MAggie's supplemnt dh used to say "and how is this easier??" He loves that in the morning he brings Maggie in to our bed and she just latches on. Or she sleeps w us and can feed when she wants. Maggie is at a point where sometimes she likes sleeping w us and other times wants nothing to do with us. But being able to nurse anytime is so much easier than spending 10 minutes preparing a bottle. OKAY, preaching to the saved here.....

I know! It's unfathomable to me. Caleb's labor took 42 hours and over 24 of that was with pit. :/ Never once did I want the c-section. I'm sure I'll piss her off, but she will be getting preached at from me. I'm hoping that she'll see what a PITA pumping is and realize that it's easier to bf. I'm totally with you, I was hooked to either Evie or a pump for about 2 months after she was born to try to increase my milk supply. There is no TIME for anything else. And this is the reason I don't want to piss her off too badly. If I do, she won't listen about anything. She's stubborn that way and moody too. Methinks she's got a lot of growing up to do.

don't you love it when the babies do their hands like that...all of mine did it and dh and i would just crack up at their "mr burns" hands

Quote:

Originally Posted by The4OfUs

I said to him something like, "look, I know you think I go crazy with my family, but you were way out of line to imply that I would want to force our daughter to scream in the car for 6 hours just to see them." He said he was sorry, it was over the top and he was just really strung out from her being so upset. We kissed and made up. :

glad you got it worked out, last night when i was reading, i was thinking, oh, strung out papa...i don't think he "meant" it. i really think crying is even worse for guys to deal with b/c they just don't get it...

Quote:

Originally Posted by The4OfUs

So I've been thinking about getting one of these: Baby carriers, or an Ergo, because I just can't get her on my back in the wrap securely and comfortably for more than about 5 min, I think I need some structured support - and the pouch is great on my hip, but I need to sometimes be really hands-free to do stuff around the house,

i really like the ergo. it's so good for such a range of ages (i've worn a 4mo all the way to 6yo in it) and bar none, it's the most comfortable for long trips. i could wear my kids all day in an ergo at a trip to the zoo and not feel it nearly as much as wearing someone in another type of carrier for even just a few hours...you can also use it for front carries and hip carries, but truthfully, it's the back carries that are the best...

ok, gotta get myself a shower. does that count as primping? if so, then i guess i do primp...at least twice/week anyway

WOHM married to SAHD, living the dream w/our: 3 girls (14,12,10) and 3 boys (7,5,3) and tie-breaker due Jan 2014

Ange - I know what you mean about being done with friends. It's so hard to find even remotely like-minded mamas around here. The mainstream group I belong to is all supportive of each other when they decide to wean super early (like 6 months) because they want to diet, or because their babies got teeth and it hurts to nurse. One mom just weaned her 9 month old because she was just tired of nursing, and since her daughter "likes" the formula, her life is so much easier now. She can just pop a bottle in her mouth and walk away. Every playgroup, the babies are all stuck in bouncy chairs or left in their buckets. It makes me sad that I'm the only one who seems to want to cuddle a baby who's older than about 5 months. There is one mama, who when asked how long she'd nurse said, "at least a year." She was also asking about the midwives at the OB practice I go to so that she could see them when she has her next baby. She may be more crispy than she thinks.

Still working on that... I think because of me working, plus trying to pick up and do so many things including the accounting stuff and staying up with my family and trying to do all the 3 million things that need to get done over the weekend, I just don't have time to really look, you know? But I think I am at that point where I really need to find someone. There is just too much negativity when you are surrounded by ppl who criticize you for not hitting your child (though mine is the most well behaved of the lot thank you very much), not doing formula, co-sleeping. One mama who slept through all of her babes cries and her hubby did all the night time bottles (she did formula). Sheesh, I can't even sleep through all of C's and he doesn't even nurse...

BUT I am not actually a CLW one either so maybe I shouldn't say anything. I can go about a year and a half. : C made it to 16 months, and I think J may go a little bit longer but by the time I had to wean C, I was sorer than I had been in the first weeks cause of all the biting and I just wanted my body back... I know, I'm a horrible woman....

Quote:

Originally Posted by katiejon1

I sent my sister a list of books to read. Hopefully she'll at least crack 1 open. I'm the reader in the family. I was talking to my dh the other day and was musing on how on earth the 2 of us were raised the same way can be so vastly different from each other. I had a m/w, wanted a homebirth, she thinks that the ob is marvelous and has already decided she wants an epidural. Her view on a C-section? fine! She scares me. I really hope that there is some way I can sway her somewhat. It makes me sad that she could be so uninformed and be pressured into something that she doesn't need. She told me the other day that she wants to just pump and not bf. I really think I'll be able to help her with that though. Since the baby is due in July, I'll be able to go down and help with that. Hopefully if she gets off to a good start, she'll be able to keep it up. Surely she'll want to bf and not pump, right? Isn't that what most people want to do? :

I actually have a friend who really and truly wanted to just pump and never wanted to breastfeed. Never got it...But of course, she gave up after um, one or two days... She blamed it on the hospital for not bringing her a pump when she asked for it. She never even tried putting her babe to her breast. Said she tried it with the first child and just refused to try it with the second.... She just said he was too hungry all the time, cause he kept wanting to nurse. Um, normal. So she had cereal in her babes bottle at like 3 weeks... :

Quote:

Originally Posted by The4OfUs

It did, thanks. I said to him something like, "look, I know you think I go crazy with my family, but you were way out of line to imply that I would want to force our daughter to scream in the car for 6 hours just to see them." He said he was sorry, it was over the top and he was just really strung out from her being so upset. We kissed and made up. :

Awww. Glad things worked out... Here's hoping I can kiss and make up tonight. Oh wait, we aren't fighting..... Let's see if I can pick a fight....

Quote:

Originally Posted by The4OfUs

And how cool is this? I was on my local area tribe forum, and there was a "do you know me?" thread on it where you post your schools and places you've lived, and 2 women from my HS are on the board now!! One of them is actually even in the same area I'm in right now, and pointed me to a local AP mom's group...and the other I was actually in some classes with and went to the same college, we've been PMing, and maybe we'll be able to meet up when I go back to my home town to visit the 'rents next time. What a small world - I'm pretty excited!

Geeze I wish! I keep looking for the Palmdale folks and um, not very many folks in the Antelope Valley. May have to settle for a Santa Clarita group... But most seem to be SAH, and alas until I find a local job where I dont' commute 2 to 2 1/2 hours per day, don't see it happening... But looking for the local job with some earnest so we shall see how it goes...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amys1st

As far as wanting a csection- have that mama talk to me. The last thing I ever wanted was the recovery, the scar, the epideral which is VERY strong and scary. Also the sterile of the birth. Of course my birth w Maggie was a different situation. But I have had it both ways and I would take a vaginal birth anyday. I dont know how you can recover from that surgery and take care of a baby, mine was not there when I recoevered which sadly helped me.
Also making up bottles of bm (that is if you pump a lot and oftern which is hard w a baby!) or formula for that matter is not easier!! With MAggie's supplemnt dh used to say "and how is this easier??" He loves that in the morning he brings Maggie in to our bed and she just latches on. Or she sleeps w us and can feed when she wants. Maggie is at a point where sometimes she likes sleeping w us and other times wants nothing to do with us. But being able to nurse anytime is so much easier than spending 10 minutes preparing a bottle. OKAY, preaching to the saved here.....

As far as a night time nurser= BTDT. The good news is that night time nursing is getting him ready for life. I know Leann knows this! I remember thinking w my first when will this end??? We were both exhausted and we only had one. But at 4 1/2 she sleeps thru the night and has since she was about 15 mos old. That was my light at the end of the tunnel w Maggie - eventually she will sleep thru.

Um, I don't prepare bottles, um ever, thankfully. I get annoyed when I have to introduce food and remember to do that at regular intervals, rather than just whipping out to nurse whenever he feels like it I think because some see it as "sharing parenting" and don't want to do "all of it themselves" they think there should be a solution for splitting feeding in the first 6 months.. I don't think anyone really sees how much more work it is...Don't they realize that when solids are introduced you can totally pawn it off on hubby? Not to mention diaper changes make great bonding time, especially poop. :

This is to Caroline, OH.MY.GOSH. We were in a house with my 2 nieces and nephew and then my 2, um, I am definitely not at a point where I can handle 5 kids. There was always one of them doing something... And my 3 year old is a follower~makes other ppls followers seem like leaders and will do anything anyone else does. And then my niece is a late bird and my kids are early birds... we are so exhausted...All the adults and some of the kids were just staggering around this morning...

Anywho, kids are terrorizing the house. Um, my Simpsons favorites:

1. My cats breath smells like cat food.

2. I can't promise to try, but I'll try to try. :

Ange. Mama to boys. Yup. All Boys. All Intact. A bunch of other NFL, crunchy credentials too.

OK, finally had a chance to upload photos, so now you can all gaze upon the 3 most adorable kids in the universe!
)

Cute Cute Cute!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caroline248

I am here, but having a cup of tea and off to bed..

Care to join me?

I meant with the tea..not the bed part...

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlbertaJes

I'm a little : but I won't get into that right now.

.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The4OfUs

Soooooo, guess who's not going to Pittsburgh? Us.

Seriously. How do people do CIO? I wanted to rip my skin off :

Im sorry hon...that sucks!! And even a minute of them crying like that is enough to make me wanna curl up in the fetal position and sob myself!! Hugs. Glad you and dh made up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amys1st

I like all your suggestions but add- The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. Also just in case- the Fussy baby book by Sears.

Love the WAB book!! Great Suggestion

Quote:

Originally Posted by Megs_BK

Dan says "Hi, Moms." He was discharged yesterday... doing great, although he says he feels like "fruit loops" because of his medicine. He has to take daily calcium blockers to stay ahead of the migraine crap. Blearrrrgh. Poor guy.

His parents got here yesterday. They drove our "new" car to us -- a '98 Pathfinder that is in excellent condition and has some sweet extras (hello, Bose soundsystem!)

Anyway, just wanted to give the quick update. I'm going to see if Neves wants another snack right now. It's been tough to get her to commit to eating today.

Glad he's home and cool a "new" car!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sehbub

Ange - I know what you mean about being done with friends. It's so hard to find even remotely like-minded mamas around here.

It's so rare that all three of us are in my parent's house at the same time, since my sis lives 700 miles away, and Stuart is in IN, so my dad spent the entire dinner (we had Christmas dinner tonight...YUM!) just staring back and forth between the three of us and grinning like a goofball. It was so wonderful to be with both my siblings again. I miss them so much.

Off to bed. "See" you all tomorrow.

Yea, there's some ladies like that in my playgroup too, but overall we have a great group of semi crunchy mamas. And : about you guys at dinner

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlbertaJes

Oh and to everyone who hasn't yet received a card from me, I didn't get enough pictures printed so i haven't been able to send all of them yet. I'll get them out a day or two after we get back home.

Hugs hon And on the card issue, we just got the one I sent you back. I didn't put enough postage , OK so I don't send much mail to Canada It'll be back on it way to you this week

Quote:

Originally Posted by The4OfUs

So glad he's feeling better - well, froot loopiness aside (you were right the first time, it is spelled froot - cause Lord knows there's no real fruit in those babies..and NO, I was NOT addicted to them in college, and I did NOT take a plastic toucan Sam from the dining hall to have in my dorm room. : ). I hope he contines to feel better. And on the car!

My parents are coming today - they were so disappointed about the weekend that they left my Nana's a day early and will be stopping by here for a while - they also have some "stuff" for us, and my mom hasn't seen Kait since before Thanksgiving (which is a long time for them) so she's dying to get a little snuggle time in.
.

Froot Loop Thief : And so totally cool that your parents are coming. I bet your mom was as disappointed as you. There's just something about a grandma and her grandkids

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcimom

don't you love it when the babies do their hands like that...all of mine did it and dh and i would just crack up at their "mr burns" hands

ok, gotta get myself a shower. does that count as primping? if so, then i guess i do primp...at least twice/week anyway

Mr. Burns hands And I see you get a shower just about as often as I do